The Big "A"

How many dragsters can run their race in 60 seconds?  LOTS OF THEM!!  Trust me on this one, they can run one right after another ... seemed like every 10 seconds ... until 1:30 in the morning.  That's right, I sit here bleary eyed, tired and achy from about an hour's sleep.  The night before, they quit at a reasonable 9:00.

The announcer went to bed at 11:00 ... I heard him sign off ... but boys will be boys, and they ran until all hours of the morning.  The rest of the night I was wide awake, waiting for the next one to take off.   I love drag racing ... I love drag racing ... I love .........   Apparently there is a big race today and tomorrow with lots of prize money, that will probably be cancelled both days due to the expected rain.  As much as I LOVE drag racing, I'm good with that.

So please forgive me if I have bad spelling or even worse English ...

The other day after the Titan Missile Museum, we drove up to Sentinel Park.  Actually known as Sentinel Peak Park or "A" Mountain, you can't miss it if you come to Tucson.  It's that big letter A on the mountain to the right as you come in on Hwy 10.  Why not a big "T" for Tucson?  You might think it was for Arizona ... and you would be right.  The story behind the big A is rather interesting, as big A's go.

There's a big Q in Quartzsite as most towns put up letters for their TOWN.  This letter was built in 1916 by Civil Engineering student Albert Condron to celebrate Arizona University's football victory over Pomona.  With funds raised from businesses and private donors, they bought mortar and whitewash for the project, using rocks they gathered from the mountainside.  It took them three months to complete.

The views of Tucson from up here are pretty amazing.  The road going up the hill is another story altogether.  It's a one lane, very narrow and steep drive.  Once at the parking area on top, you can walk the trails around the mountain to the "A".

Along the way are a couple of shelters where you can sit and enjoy the view, as well as the weird pieces of saguaro cactus on the hillside.  You are at just the right elevation to see hundreds of them.

With all the rain, everything was blooming and/or sporting green leaves.  I think it's the first time I've seen the desert turn green instead of brown.  By the way, even though there is lots of traffic up there, watch for snakes and critters ... and don't touch the cactus accidentally because those spikes will grab ahold and not let go.   Don't ask .......

You'll find all kinds of things  ... lots of garbage, beer bottles, cans and these two crosses.  Apparently Wimpy passed in 2015 at about 36 years of age and Marcus in 2013 at 24.  They both must have enjoyed coming to the mountain.  If you enlarge the picture, you will see a nice beer bottle placed lovingly among the flowers on the left.

The Big A was dedicated on March 4, 1916 ... can you imagine the fun those kids had??  Today it's under the control of Parks and Recreation who really do try to keep the place clean.  I did NOT see any garbage cans however ... maybe placement of one or two might help their cleanup.

As Big A's go, this is a BIG A, much bigger up close than you would imagine.  If you're in town, you should go see it now.  It seems to be eroding pretty badly in the middle of the letter and may not withstand the test of time.

I'm going to go take some aspirin now and hang out on the couch with the puppies.  Maybe I'll get lucky and fall asleep for an hour or two, at least until the drag races start up again.